Daily Devotional

Apr 16, 2023 | Devotional, The Reality of Heaven

Day 2

“Heaven is not a place for people who are afraid of hell; it’s a place for people who love God.”

Max Lucado

The Spiritual Reality of Heaven

Read:

“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, Paul highlights the hope and assurance of believers’ eternal destiny in Christ. He contrasts our current, temporary, and decaying earthly bodies with the future eternal bodies in heaven that God has prepared for us. This passage affirms the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, which teaches that Christians will receive new and perfected bodies when Christ returns. The Holy Spirit guarantees this promise of eternal life and new bodies. The passage emphasizes that our true home is not on earth but in heaven. Christians should prioritize spiritual matters over temporal ones, focusing on the hope and assurance of our future in Christ rather than becoming attached to our earthly bodies or the things of this world. In summary, 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 emphasizes the spiritual reality of heaven and the hope of our eternal destiny in Christ, providing comfort and assurance to believers that our earthly bodies are not our ultimate reality but rather a new and perfected body awaits us in heaven.

Apply:

How does the idea of a new, eternal body give you hope for the future?
What can we do to focus more on our spiritual reality than our earthly reality?
How can we use our hope for heaven to inspire us to live differently today?

Take Action:

Spend some time today focusing on your spiritual reality and how it gives you hope for the future. Consider setting aside time to pray, meditate, or read Scripture.

Pray:

Lord, thank you for the promise of a new, eternal body. Help us to focus on our spiritual reality and to live in a way that reflects our hope for heaven. Amen.

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